1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus including a brake function in an accelerator pedal so that an accident is not caused even if a misstep of a brake and an accelerator is made due to an operational error while driving a motor vehicle, and in particular, relates to an accelerator pedal malfunction elimination apparatus that enables a driving operation by an accelerator pedal only and eliminates accidents due to a malfunction.
2. Related Art
A driving operation is performed by alternately stepping on an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal when a motor vehicle is driven, but if a misstep is made, a grave accident could be caused and thus, it is extremely important to drive a motor vehicle by being careful so as not to make a misstep.
However, if the accelerator pedal is stepped on due to a malfunction, the driver may be upset and further step on the accelerator pedal and thus, various accelerator pedal malfunction elimination apparatuses to eliminate such a malfunction have been proposed. Conventional accelerator pedal malfunction elimination apparatuses have, for example, a structure described in JP 5-185862 A (pages 4-5, FIGS. 1-2).
The accelerator pedal malfunction elimination apparatus described in JP 5-185862 A has an accelerator pedal stepping force transmission member including an accelerator linking mechanism linked to a wire operating plate onto which an accelerator wire is locked or unlinked therefrom at a tip of an accelerator rod including an accelerator pedal and also includes a brake arm that performs a braking operation via a rotary movement by having a brake pedal fixed to one end thereof and the other end attached to a pivot, wherein a pedal linking mechanism that, while connecting the brake arm and the accelerator pedal stepping force transmission member, converts a further stepping force of the accelerator pedal into stepping of the brake pedal after transmission of a stepping force being released is included.
The pedal linking mechanism in the conventional accelerator pedal malfunction elimination apparatus includes a motion conversion mechanism that converts a rocking motion of the accelerator pedal provided in an approximate center portion of the accelerator rod into a rotary movement, a mechanism that makes a motion when the accelerator pedal is further stepped on from a certain position via the motion conversion mechanism, and a brake arm to which the mechanism is pivotally attached.
In the conventional accelerator pedal malfunction elimination apparatus, when the accelerator pedal is further stepped on from a certain position, the accelerator linking mechanism is released to slacken the tension of the accelerator wire and also the brake pedal is slightly stepped on via the motion conversion mechanism.
Thus, when the accelerator pedal is stepped on by exceeding a certain position, the conventional accelerator pedal malfunction elimination apparatus achieves an effect of returning an accelerator to low r.p.m. and applying a brake without requiring any special operation while the accelerator pedal is maintained in a stepped-on state.
However, the conventional accelerator pedal malfunction elimination apparatus operates the brake pedal by displacement of a transverse lever fixed to an approximate center portion of the accelerator rod constituting the motion conversion mechanism and the action of an interlocking link attached to the brake arm and thus, a displacement distance of the transverse lever is short and a braking effect thereof is extremely limited.
That is, the conventional accelerator pedal malfunction elimination apparatus is only configured to avoid a malfunction in a very initial stage of the malfunction of the accelerator pedal and is intended to brake a motor vehicle by, after the malfunction of the accelerator pedal being noticed, avoiding the malfunction and at the same time, performing an initial braking operation and then performing an original braking operation.
Therefore, if the driver is upset and cannot switch to the brake pedal, a sufficient deceleration and braking action cannot be performed.
The invention is made to resolve the above problem of a conventional accelerator pedal malfunction elimination apparatus and an object thereof is to provide an accelerator pedal malfunction elimination apparatus capable of braking a motor vehicle and exerting brake control reliably only by an accelerator pedal being stepped on even if the driver is upset and cannot switch to the brake pedal.
Another object thereof is to provide an accelerator pedal malfunction elimination apparatus capable of performing a motor vehicle driving operation only by a stepping operation of an accelerator pedal, performing normally a conventional driving operation without requiring a special switching operation, performing start or accelerated driving by the accelerator pedal being stepped on, applying a brake or stopping the motor vehicle by further stepping on the pedal and adjusting a stepping force with the driver's intention to apply a brake or stop the motor vehicle, and restoring an initial state of the accelerator by releasing the stepping force.
Still another object thereof is to provide an accelerator pedal malfunction elimination apparatus capable of, even if an accelerator pedal is erroneously stepped on, stopping a motor vehicle more swiftly and reliably than switching to step on a brake pedal based on the driver's intention of stopping the motor vehicle.